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Education

October 11, 2014

Little kids have a lot in common with hummingbirds. Both are small in size, quick in motion and fond of sugar. Plus, kids think hummingbirds are cool. So pairing Oregon schoolchildren with the feisty, orange-throated hummers that share their Willamette Valley habitat seemed like a scientific and educational slam-dunk to ornithologist Matt Betts, a researcher […]

October 10, 2014

Two five-year grants from the National Science Foundation aim to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines, or STEM, at Oregon State University. Through a program known as ADVANCE, OSU will recruit and promote women in STEM fields and implement policies to address needs across race, sexual […]

April 20, 2012

The lecture hall overflows with middle-school girls and their parents one Saturday morning in February. Images flash across three big screens at the front of the room. Suddenly, a giant face of Albert Einstein pops up, filling the screens with the scientist’s wild white hair and huge, fuzzy mustache. “A lot of people think you […]

May 28, 2011

Today, the safety and effectiveness of new medicines, medical devices and vaccinations are on peoples’ minds and in the news media. Clinical trials enable researchers to study new treatments and to determine whether they work as intended or cause dangerous side effects. These studies are conducted with an eye to the future, in hopes of […]

February 21, 2011

Walk into an upper-level college physics classroom almost anywhere in the country, and you’ll see students sitting down, listening to the professor and taking notes. Despite years of education research showing that students learn better by being active, the common curriculum for juniors and seniors in physics still emphasizes passivity. In recent years, a revolution […]

February 8, 2011

This lesson plan brings the science of the tsunami into the classroom. The Great Wave A tsunami races through the ocean deep at jet-aircraft speed. Approaching the shore, it can crest to more than 100 feet, hitting coastal areas with devastating force. In this package of lessons and activities, students will learn what causes a […]

February 22, 2010

Kevin Ahern's "metabolic melodies" have students singing in class and on YouTube

Like most teachers, Kevin Ahern savors the smile on his students’ faces when they suddenly get it. He remembers having those bright “ah hah” moments in school only too well. But Ahern, who teaches introductory and advanced biochemistry classes to many of Oregon State University’s pre-med students, has another reason for wanting to drive science into […]

June 23, 2009

When Mario Magaña was 15, he made a tough decision: quit middle school and return to his family’s farm so his younger siblings had a chance for an education. Magaña loved school, which was 30 miles from his home in Los Horcones, Michoacán, Mexico, but he sacrificed anyway. His father could no longer afford the […]

June 23, 2009

Kids engage their brains in cool ways —
and get empowered at the same time

From Corvallis labs to Newport tidepools to Salem campgrounds, OSU experts are challenging K-12 kids to stretch their thinking and deepen their understanding of the natural and built environments. This summer, hundreds of Oregon children are limbering up their synapses in subjects as diverse as math and fine arts, engineering and journalism. They’re building brain […]

February 1, 2007

High school today is startlingly like it was in the days of “Grease.” Kids may be wearing low-rise jeans and nose rings instead of poodle skirts and letterman sweaters, but their path to a diploma looks and feels much like their parents’ — or their grandparents’. For many students, the old ways aren’t working. Low […]

July 23, 2006

In middle school, why do some students glide through while others struggle?

Remember middle school? No stress, right? Psychologist Jennifer Connor-Smith knows firsthand how difficult that transition can be. She and her students are looking at how personality helps or hinders teens’ ability to deal with the crisis of the day.

July 23, 2006

Undergraduate researchers Janelle Quest and Kathryn Cellerini have been working shoulder-to-shoulder with their professor Jennifer Connor-Smith to identify and isolate the factors that influence adolescent stress management. As part of a cadre of research assistants in OSU’s Department of Psychology, they are getting the kind of nuts-and-bolts experience in social science that typically comes along […]